


coming home to you

by Anonymous



Category: Wanna One (Band)
Genre: Established Relationship, M/M, Slice of Life, Spooning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-06
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-11 17:46:17
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,545
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19114639
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: The demands of life are wearing them down but at least they have each other to build themselves back up.





	coming home to you

It's long past midnight when the front door creaks open and a sigh like a gust of wind carries the man over the threshold. The delicacy with which he clicks it shut behind him to avoid too loud an entrance is enough to expend the last remnants of his energy.

 

Slowly, like a man aged with aches and pains he removes his stiff overcoat, followed by his shoes. Even so, he still feels stifled, encased by exhaustion as if it had sunk into every crease, every pore of his skin and made its home there like a second, perpetual hide. He longs to shed it with reptilian ease but for every moment of peace that washes him clean and lifts him buoyant and weightless, all too soon it will return the moment he steps back out into the world that waits, desperate to demand of him more than he can offer.

 

He has been running on empty for days, weeks, months on end; barely enough energy to foresee the complications caused by the inadequacy of his colleagues' work, let alone to solve them. In the end, as team leader it is always Daniel held accountable but he is running out of patience for the juniors who can't seem to help but get on internal audit's bad side. Add a short-notice business trip, delayed international flights, misplaced and damaged luggage, and it's all he could do to put one foot in front of the other to make it home.

 

He can only imagine how much harder the task would have been, had he no one to come home to. No one waiting for his return - in the most literal sense, he realises when he spots the familiar figure curled up on the couch.

 

The photos and video calls that have sustained him of late cannot compare to the flare of warmth in his chest as he sees his fiancé in the flesh for the first time in weeks. Even in the dim light of the living room that makes a steady rise and fall of breath and a tousled head of brown hair all that is discernible.

 

It is enough to know that the man he loves is merely several feet from him, after so long kept miles apart.

 

Leaving his wheeled carrier in the entryway, he moves with care across the room to kneel before the arm of the couch, where Jihoon has laid his head at an uncomfortable angle, soft cheek flattened against the cushions. There is a blanket haphazardly drawn across his body, as if it originally lay across his knees whilst he ploughed through the endless pile of marking on the coffee table as he waited on Daniel's return.

 

An unexpected resignation only days shy of the new school year had meant a last minute staff reshuffle. From the sounds of it, the teaching staff are spread especially thin this term and as much as Jihoon loves his kids and challenges both, they're feeling the effects of lack of funding. Just one teacher's aide would help, but they do not have the resources even for that.

 

Daniel knows that the exhaustion he feels is shared, laid heavy on his partner's own broad shoulders just as much as his. It's more than the sum of a day's parts; it's existential, and neither of them can bear it alone.

 

Jihoon needs his sleep and Daniel would loathe to wake him but he cannot resist reaching out a careful hand to caress the side of his lover's face, thumb warm and coarse as it rubs over the peak of a cheekbone and the curve of a helix.

 

Just through that one light touch, Daniel can forget the heaviness of the day. A fond smile lingers on his lips as he sees Jihoon's nose scrunch, a sure sign he is waking, and hears an adorable groan ease its way out of his chest.

 

 _"Niel?"_ he mumbles, speech slurred with sleep, even as he struggles to open his eyes. "You're home?"

 

"Yes, baby. Sorry I'm so late." Hand stroking his hair, Daniel watches with a sort of ceaseless wonder as the cloud of drowsiness passes out of Jihoon's gaze, displaced by the vibrant realisation that Daniel is really there before him, not merely a figment of a dream.

 

Daniel has the privilege of witnessing the moment Jihoon _sees_ him, the way his formerly distant eyes instantly grow warm and fond, and he's struck again by how much he yearns for the first thing they see each day to be each other. Struck again by his great fortune that it is a wish he has been able to see realised, whether or not he deserves the way Jihoon looks at him with such a magnitude of affection.

 

Jihoon makes a somewhat indignant noise, presumably either disgruntled at Daniel's late return or his apology for it, and lurches to sit up, flinging his arms around Daniel's neck, heedless of the blanket falling from his torso and into his lap. As Jihoon presses his face into his neck, Daniel cradles the back of his head with one hand while the other spans the length of his back, mapping the knobs of his spine and the jut of his shoulder blades.

 

The realm of sleep still far too recent for words and enunciation to come easily to Jihoon, the two of them simply hold each other. They simply breathe in and out together, clutched in each other's arms, and Daniel feels the lightest he has in weeks.

 

When they pull back, Daniel has to hide a smile at the red marks lining the side of Jihoon's face that was pressed against the cushion, like creases that have ironed themselves into his soft skin. It's adorable and Daniel wants to kiss him breathless.

 

Instead he laces their fingers together and presses a little smooch to the heel of Jihoon's palm

 

"Sorry to wake you," he murmurs against his skin.

 

Jihoon shakes his head weakly, slight pout on his lips. "I didn't mean to fall asleep. What time is it?"

 

"Half three, maybe," Daniel estimates, not wanting to tear his eyes away from Jihoon for even a split second in order to check a clock.

 

Jihoon makes a face. He has to get up for work in a few hours. Daniel won't have to go into the office until tomorrow at least, but Jihoon has no such luxury. At least morning yard duty is fairly quiet, if cold.

 

In response to the reminder of the looming work day, Jihoon winds his arms back around Daniel and pulls him close again.

 

"Come on," Daniel says into his hair. "Let's get to bed. We can talk more when we've had some sleep."

 

Jihoon hums his assent but makes no move to detach from Daniel. With a huff of a laugh, Daniel tries not to overbalance as he stands and brings Jihoon up with him, arms still wrapped around him like a vice.

 

It's a slow shuffle to their room. Jihoon, sleepy and content to press his head to Daniel's chest as he allows his partner to walk him backwards in the direction of their bed. When the back of Jihoon's knees hit the edge of the mattress he naturally crumples down to sit upon it. Having not lain in it since he changed the bedding that morning, Jihoon hastens to untuck the covers while Daniel undresses.

 

The older tiredly fumbles with the buttons on his shirt for a moment but soon finds Jihoon standing in front of him, small hands brusquely taking the reins as he helps to swiftly undo and discard his clothes. Just as methodical, Jihoon bunches the sleepshirt he's grabbed for Daniel and pulls it over his head, helping him fit his aching arms through the sleeves.

 

"Aigoo, you big baby," Jihoon coos as he ushers an exhausted and grateful Daniel into bed.

 

The cool of the fresh cotton sheets is refreshing against Daniel's skin but he much prefers the warmth of Jihoon's body as he climbs into bed and curls up behind him.

 

Jihoon hooks his chin over Daniel's shoulder and hugs him from behind. Their bodies melt together in a collective sigh of relief, of reunion, and Daniel cherishes the feeling of security that unfolds in his chest at being held like this. Already, he can feel himself begin to regenerate; his exhausted shell filling with warmth and love until he is hollow no more.

 

This time, Daniel is the one to reach for Jihoon, bringing his arms to encircle his own waist. Jihoon's hands resting on his tummy bleed warmth through the fabric of his shirt and Daniel covers them with his own, enjoying the way they fit against each other. The way he can feel the press of precious metal against his palm.

 

The ring on Jihoon's finger is just as much a reminder to Daniel as the way Jihoon is wrapped around him ー a reminder that there is someone who makes the exhaustion of the day worthwhile. That no matter how each day to come bears down on him, there is someone he will always come home to, will wake up beside, and with whom a bright, secure future is worth every hardship in the world.

 

 

 

 


End file.
